Why didn't the British make the weapons they sold to Indians a little better?
Did that even need asking? Who would want the local powers in their colonies to grow stronger and stronger?
What was more, the colonial government had agreements with those princely states. No matter what kind of crap British armories produced, those princely palaces had to purchase a fixed quota every year—neither more nor less.
That was precisely why the arms trade in Tranquebar could flourish so spectacularly.
The Austrian Empire was smuggling so openly. Did the British not care?
That brought up the importance of returning courtesy with courtesy. From the very first time the Austrian Empire's fleet arrived in India, the two sides had begun close cooperation.
Over the years, the Austrian Empire's connections throughout Britain's Indian colonies had long become tangled and deep-rooted. On top of that, Franz was rather generous, sending dividends every year to those British officials stationed in India, so naturally he was able to play both sides with ease.
And even taking ten thousand steps back, the Austrian Empire's strength at this point was not to be underestimated.
In British India, almost no one could bear the responsibility for starting a conflict with the Austrian Empire, and even fewer wanted to do so.
After all, war meant people would die.
Besides, the Austrian Empire's colonies looked more like military strongholds—fortresses, small citadels, and a remarkably high proportion of soldiers.
Cracking such a hard bone without paying a price was impossible, and how steep that price would be became the crucial factor.
Nor was it as though no one had ever set their sights on Austria's colonies. A princely state had once, at the instigation of the Indian colonial government, launched an attack on Tranquebar.
The result was naturally a crushing